International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences最新文献

{"title":"Experimental study on the permeability characteristics of reconsolidated salt: Effects of gas and confining pressure","authors":"Zongze Li ,&nbsp;Jinyang Fan ,&nbsp;Yanfei Kang ,&nbsp;Yang Zou ,&nbsp;Marion Fourmeau ,&nbsp;Jie Chen ,&nbsp;Deyi Jiang ,&nbsp;Daniel Nelias","doi":"10.1016/j.ijrmms.2026.106424","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijrmms.2026.106424","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Reconsolidated salt, formed from crushed halite under compaction, is a promising buffer and sealing material for deep geological repositories of high-level radioactive waste (HLW) because of its low permeability and self-healing properties. This study investigated the gas permeability behavior of reconsolidated salt with varying porosities under different confining pressures and inlet gas pressures using nitrogen gas. Based on nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technology, the pore structure of reconsolidated salt specimens with different porosities was tested and imaged. The experimental results demonstrate that gas permeability decreases with increasing gas and confining pressures, with gas pressure having a more pronounced effect. The observed permeability‒pressure relationship is attributed primarily to the Klinkenberg effect, with gas slippage along pore walls enhancing the measured permeability under low-pressure conditions. Using the Klinkenberg correction, the absolute permeability values of reconsolidated salt were derived, reaching as low as 10⁻¹⁹ m² in low-porosity samples. These values are significantly lower than the apparent gas permeability, indicating excellent sealing performance comparable to or superior to that of bentonite. A logarithmic relationship between the absolute permeability and confining pressure was established, providing a quantitative basis for permeability prediction under repository stress conditions. NMR imaging results indicate that with decreasing porosity, the connectivity between pores also gradually diminishes. Additionally, the slip factor was found to increase with increasing confining pressure, underscoring the evolving influence of pore geometry on gas transport mechanisms. Permeability of reconsolidated granular salt decreases with porosity following a power-law relationship, and the healing supports its sealing effectiveness. This study provides essential data and theoretical insights for evaluating the long-term sealing performance of reconsolidated salt in salt-based HLW repositories.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54941,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences","volume":"199 ","pages":"Article 106424"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2026-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146039328","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Microstructure-driven prediction of permeability and thermal conductivity in porous solids via a discrete multi-physics framework","authors":"Changhao Liu ,&nbsp;Andrey Jivkov ,&nbsp;Kiprian Berbatov ,&nbsp;Majid Sedighi ,&nbsp;Jiangfeng Liu ,&nbsp;Hongyang Ni","doi":"10.1016/j.ijrmms.2026.106432","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijrmms.2026.106432","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Accurate prediction of permeability and thermal conductivity of porous materials is essential for the design and optimisation of various engineering systems in energy, environmental and infrastructure applications. This study presents a discrete multi-physics modelling framework that enables direct prediction of these properties from microstructural information alone, without recourse to fitting against experimental data of fluid flow and heat transfer.</div><div>The method is based on combinatorial differential forms defined on a cell complex, allowing local conservation laws to be enforced while capturing material and interfacial non-linearities. Representative elementary volumes (REVs) were statistically reconstructed from high-resolution X-ray computed tomography (XCT) of two sandstone types, with mineralogical composition derived from X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. Local transport properties were assigned based on pore geometry and mineral-specific conductivities, incorporating realistic mixing rules at interfaces.</div><div>Simulations across 30 stochastic microstructural realisations per specimen of rock yielded permeability and thermal conductivity estimates that captured experimental trends and magnitudes without calibration. The results demonstrate the predictive capability and robustness of the approach, offering a viable pathway for microstructure-informed design and digital characterisation of porous and fractured geomaterials.</div><div>The central scientific contribution is a unified discrete operator formulation in which permeability and thermal conductivity emerge from the same mathematical structure, providing a physically consistent basis for modelling transport in heterogeneous and fractured rock materials.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54941,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences","volume":"199 ","pages":"Article 106432"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2026-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146033268","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"An interpretable rock mass quality intelligent classification model (IRICM) driven by refined decision rule and its application","authors":"Xiang Wu ,&nbsp;Fengyan Wang ,&nbsp;Jianping Chen ,&nbsp;Mingchang Wang ,&nbsp;Lina Cheng ,&nbsp;Chengyao Zhang ,&nbsp;Junke Xu","doi":"10.1016/j.ijrmms.2026.106430","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijrmms.2026.106430","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Rock mass quality classification (RMQC) plays a crucial role in rock mass stability analysis and in the design and construction planning of rock engineering projects. However, current RMQC methods rely on expert experience, which makes it difficult for RMQC to be intelligent, scientific, and interpretable, and is not conducive to understanding rock mass characteristics in engineering applications. Therefore, this study proposes an interpretable rock mass quality intelligent classification model (IRICM) by coupling random forest (RF) and genetic algorithm (GA) to refine decision rules, aiming to enhance the intelligence, scientificity, and interpretability of RMQC. Based on 318 tunnel section data, the RMQC dataset was constructed using rock mass rating (RMR) parameters obtained from field investigations and laboratory experiments. By coupling RF and GA, the rules from all decision trees were selected, combined, and optimized to refine decision rules, achieving a classification accuracy of 87.50 % with only five rules per class. Interpretability analysis of the refined decision rules revealed that rock quality designation (RQD), intact rock strength (IRS), joint spacing (JS), and groundwater (GW) were the most frequently used features, confirming their importance in RMQC. Further analysis using post-hoc interpretability techniques also indicated that RQD, IRS, JS, and GW contributed most significantly to RMQC, especially in distinguishing poor rock mass quality (classes IV and V). The model was applied to the RMQC of tunnels and rock slopes, and the results demonstrated consistency with classification outcomes from the Q, RMR, and geological strength index (GSI) systems, validating its reliability and stability.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54941,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences","volume":"199 ","pages":"Article 106430"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2026-01-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146033270","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Cosserat continuum with the hyperbolic Mohr-Coulomb failure surface and its applications to strength problems","authors":"Le Zhang,&nbsp;Hong Zheng","doi":"10.1016/j.ijrmms.2026.106425","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijrmms.2026.106425","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In the field of continuum mechanics, the Cauchy continuum model has traditionally held a dominant position. In contrast, the Cosserat continuum model, which serves as a significant complement to the Cauchy model, has primarily been used to address strain softening or to simulate the growth of shear bands. In the limited applications of the Cosserat continuum to strength problems, the elasto-plastic model employed takes the Drucker-Prager criterion as the failure criterion, rather than the Mohr-Coulomb criterion that better captures the failure characteristics of geomaterials. This is largely due to the fact that a non-smooth Mohr-Coulomb yield surface poses substantial challenges for elasto-plastic constitutive integration. To address this issue, this study develops a projection-contraction algorithm based on Gauss-Seidel iteration to implement stress updates within the framework of the Cosserat model, using a hyperbolic Mohr-Coulomb (HMC) criterion as the yield criterion. The Gauss–Seidel Projection-Contraction (GSPC) algorithm eliminates the need to compute the Hessian matrix of the yield function and exhibits superior numerical performance compared to the widely-used return-mapping method. Meanwhile, a displacement control method (DCM) is designed to bring models to the limit equilibrium state. This proposed procedure exhibits superior numerical performance compared to load control method (LCM) based on Newton iteration. Analysis of typical case studies reveals that the proposed method is free from mesh dependency and possesses robust numerical characteristics. In particular, the Cosserat continuum naturally regularizes strain localization in elastic–perfectly plastic problems, and the internal characteristic length significantly influences the thickness of shear bands and the distribution of plastic zones.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54941,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences","volume":"199 ","pages":"Article 106425"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2026-01-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146033269","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Rapidly improving the acid-fracture conductivity in deep and ultra-deep carbonate reservoirs through mineral alteration: a new method","authors":"Xiang Chen ,&nbsp;Zhaoxu Deng ,&nbsp;Pingli Liu ,&nbsp;Tianyu Zhang ,&nbsp;Juan Du ,&nbsp;Hongming Tang ,&nbsp;Haitai Hu ,&nbsp;Xuan Gao ,&nbsp;Zhongxuan Wang ,&nbsp;Xiaotian He","doi":"10.1016/j.ijrmms.2026.106415","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijrmms.2026.106415","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Deep and ultra-deep carbonate reservoirs contain abundant geothermal and natural gas resources, and the conductivity of acid-fractured fractures is a critical factor determining the development efficiency of these resources. However, high closure stress and acid-induced damage can lead to fracture closure and conductivity degradation. Mineral alteration refers to the in-situ conversion of existing minerals into new compounds, but the mineral alteration process is currently too slow (72 h). The Na₂HPO₄ + H₃PO₄ buffer solution (PPN) has been preliminarily proven effective in rapidly enhancing rock strength. This study investigated the effects of different acid systems (gelling acid and organic acid) and PPN treatment at 200 °C on the etching morphology, hardness, and fracture conductivity of dense carbonate rocks from two formations: the Mao-kou limestone and the Jialingjiang argillaceous limestone. The experimental results confirm that PPN rapid treatment under ultra-high temperature is effective in enhancing the fracture conductivity under high closure stress, and also reveal its mechanism of action. After 4 h of PPN treatment at 200 °C, the fracture conductivity of the Mao-kou formation and Jialingjiang formation samples increased by factors of 29.4 and 19.0, respectively, compared with untreated samples. Acid dissolution caused the rock's microstructure to transform from being dense and compact to becoming loose, with numerous dissolution pores and micro-fractures. In contrast, PPN treatment converted carbonate minerals on the fracture surfaces in situ into harder hydroxyapatite and repaired acid-induced structural damage, thereby enhancing rock strength and deformation resistance, resulting in smaller fracture-closure displacement under stress. Acid-induced damage reduced the hardness of Mao-kou formation and Jialingjiang formation samples by up to 25.6 % and 36.9 %, respectively. PPN treatment was effective for both limestone and argillaceous limestone, with the maximum increases in rock hardness reaching 39.4 % and 29.8 %, respectively. The organic acid produced a more heterogeneous etching morphology in the argillaceous limestone than the gelling acid did in the limestone. This study provides a new pathway for the rapid construction of high-conductivity fractures in deep and ultra-deep reservoir and efficient energy development.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54941,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences","volume":"199 ","pages":"Article 106415"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2026-01-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146014869","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Rockburst in circular openings under varying confining stress: Acoustic emission characteristics and precursors","authors":"Yang Wang ,&nbsp;Murat Karakus ,&nbsp;Dongqiao Liu ,&nbsp;Manchao He ,&nbsp;Yunpeng Guo","doi":"10.1016/j.ijrmms.2026.106418","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijrmms.2026.106418","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Rockburst induced by high in-situ stress is a major threat to the stability of underground structures. Among various controlling factors, confining stress plays a decisive role in governing the initiation, development, and intensity of rockburst. In this study, true triaxial rockburst experiments were conducted on sandstone specimens containing a circular hole under five levels of confining stress. The failure process was monitored through real-time video and acoustic emission (AE) techniques. AE energy, entropy, and microcrack mechanisms were analyzed to characterize the evolution of failure. Two precursor indicators, namely variance based on Critical Slowing Down (CSD) theory and the Hurst exponent derived from Rescaled Range (R/S) analysis, were employed to identify early warning signals. Results show that higher confining stress leads to greater energy accumulation, stronger tangential stress concentration, more abrupt failure behavior, and increased damage brittleness. The variance parameter was more sensitive to sudden failure, whereas the Hurst exponent provided earlier indications of instability. A two-stage damage fitting model revealed accelerated damage growth and increased brittleness with rising confining stress. These findings improve the understanding of rockburst evolution under different stress conditions and contribute to the development of more reliable early warning systems for deep underground engineering.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54941,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences","volume":"199 ","pages":"Article 106418"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2026-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146014876","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Investigation on artificial boundary problems in three-dimensional nodal-based continuous-discontinuous deformation analysis method for the seismic dynamic analyses of geotechnical structures","authors":"Yang Xia ,&nbsp;Yongtao Yang ,&nbsp;Xuhai Tang ,&nbsp;Hong Zheng ,&nbsp;Changfu Wei ,&nbsp;Zuliang Shao","doi":"10.1016/j.ijrmms.2026.106420","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijrmms.2026.106420","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>To accurately simulate the seismic responses of geotechnical structures using the three-dimensional nodal-based continuous-discontinuous deformation analysis method (3D-NCDDAM), appropriate boundary conditions should be set at the artificial boundaries to avoid the generation of fictitious reflected waves. In this study, various boundary conditions are used to enhance the ability of 3D-NCDDAM for seismic response analyses of geotechnical structures: (1) a viscous boundary is incorporated to absorb wave energy; (2) a viscoelastic boundary is introduced, which not only absorbs wave energy but also captures the elastic recovery behavior of the geotechnical medium; (3) based on the seismic input boundary, seismic motion is accurately applied; (4) the free field boundary applied for wave propagation in the semi-infinite domain is extended to three-dimensional space. The generation algorithm of the free field model and its coupling calculation with the main computational domain are introduced in detail; (5) the static-dynamic unified boundary introduced into 3D-NCDDAM achieves the seamless transition of boundary conditions between the quasi-static and dynamic stages. The numerical results of several examples verify the accuracy of those boundary conditions, and the entire evolution process of the landslide trigged by earthquake is effectively simulated with the enriched 3D-NCDDAM.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54941,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences","volume":"199 ","pages":"Article 106420"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2026-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146006408","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mechanisms of CO2 phase transition and heat transfer in response to damage-induced permeability in coal: insights from experiment and simulation","authors":"Shida Zhang ,&nbsp;Yonggang Qiao ,&nbsp;Nan Fan ,&nbsp;Chaojun Fan ,&nbsp;Danping Yuan ,&nbsp;Xianke Wang ,&nbsp;Yuqi Chang","doi":"10.1016/j.ijrmms.2026.106419","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijrmms.2026.106419","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Liquid carbon dioxide (LCO₂) fracturing is an anhydrous technique developed to enhance coalbed methane (CBM) recovery. This study explored the influence of CO₂ phase transitions on the deformation and permeability of coal subjected to LCO₂ fracturing using integrated experimental observations and numerical simulations. A customized experimental setup was used to monitor temperature, pressure, coal strain, and CO₂ phase transitions during distinct stages, including injection, freezing, pressure relief, and thawing. The CO₂ phase exhibited dynamic evolution, transitioning sequentially from gaseous CO₂ (GCO₂) to liquid CO₂ (LCO₂), and back to GCO₂. Coal was subjected to irreversible deformation driven by coupled stresses including vaporization-induced expansion, thermal stress, and freezing-induced expansion. A thermo-hydro-mechanical-damage (THMD) model accounting for variable thermophysical properties and phase transitions was established and validated experimentally. The effects of heat transfer, fluid characteristics, initial coal temperature, injection pressure, and injection temperature on CO₂ phase behavior, coal damage, and permeability were systematically analyzed. The results revealed that the LCO₂ freezing process involved three phases: GCO₂, gas–liquid mixed CO₂ (L-GCO₂), and LCO₂. Elevated coal temperatures intensified thermal stresses, vapor expansion forces, and freeze–thaw effects, thereby amplifying coal damage and permeability. Conversely, lower injection temperatures and higher injection pressures promoted deeper LCO₂ penetration, accelerated damage progression, and significantly improved permeability. These findings offer essential theoretical insights into the optimization of the engineering performance of LCO₂ fracturing technology.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54941,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences","volume":"199 ","pages":"Article 106419"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2026-01-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146000592","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Advanced thermo-hydro-mechanical modelling of Callovo-Oxfordian claystone: Temperature effects and multi-scale applications for geological disposal safety","authors":"M. Souley ,&nbsp;C. De Lesquen ,&nbsp;M.N. Vu ,&nbsp;G. Armand","doi":"10.1016/j.ijrmms.2026.106397","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijrmms.2026.106397","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>To support the feasibility of the Cigéo deep geological repository, Andra has carried out extensive thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) investigations on Callovo-Oxfordian (COx) claystone. These investigations combine in-situ experiments conducted at the Meuse/Haute-Marne Underground Research Laboratory (M-HM URL) with detailed laboratory-scale characterisations. This study introduces an enhanced rheological model that integrates temperature-dependent mechanical characteristics derived from recent experimental data. Implemented in COMSOL Multiphysics®, the model is validated against triaxial THM tests at different temperature levels (20°, 40°, 60° and 80 °C), accurately capturing short-term strength degradation and volumetric behaviour transitions under increasing temperature. Long-term behaviour simulations, including simulation of triaxial creep tests at 40° and 60 °C, show excellent agreement with the analytical results, with deviations remaining below 0.1 %. The proposed model was first applied at the underground structures scale to the GCS drift, which serves as a reference case for validating the constitutive models of the COx claystone. The simulation covered a 20-year period, and the results were successfully compared with the convergence measurements recorded since the gallery's excavation. The model is further applied to the HITEC near-field benchmark to assess thermal impacts on the Excavation-induced Fracture Zone (EFZ) surrounding a heat-emitting waste cell. The results confirm the robustness and applicability of the proposed THM framework for large-scale repository design under thermal loading conditions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54941,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences","volume":"199 ","pages":"Article 106397"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2026-01-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145980632","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Deterioration and damage characteristics of rock masses within the fluctuating zone, Three Gorges Reservoir Area, China","authors":"Zhiqiang Yi ,&nbsp;Yueping Yin ,&nbsp;Zhihua Zhang ,&nbsp;Luqi Wang ,&nbsp;Xuebing Wang ,&nbsp;Peng Zhao ,&nbsp;Limei Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.ijrmms.2026.106421","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijrmms.2026.106421","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Since 2008, the water level in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area has fluctuated annually between 145 and 175 m. This fluctuation has caused significant deterioration and damage to the rock masses within the fluctuating zone. In this zone, the elevation difference can reach up to 30 m. This study uses the Longmen dangerous rock as a typical case to comprehensively reveal the deterioration and damage characteristics of rock masses through sonic CT (Computed Tomography) imaging. This is further supported by field geological surveys, drilling engineering, and underground television. The following findings were obtained: (1) The degree of deterioration and damage below the 175 m elevation decreases with depth. Specifically, the RQD (Rock Quality Designation) generally follows an exponential distribution function. (2) The development of fractures and fragmentation zones within the fluctuating zone is higher than in areas below the fluctuating zone. (3) The degree of deterioration and damage below the 175 m elevation is heterogeneous and exhibits surface to inside pattern. (4) The essential cause of deterioration and damage effects is the RWLF (Reservoir Water Level Fluctuation). Detailed, weakly alkaline erosive flowing water in the study area initiates chemical corrosion, leading to deterioration and damage effects on the rock masses. Under the influence of gravity from the overlying high and steep dangerous rocks, leading to the prominent manifestation of joint fissures. Furthermore, mechanical dynamic effects, such as scour, erosion, and washout, occur due to the RWLF and vessels. These effects cause small portions of the rock masses to gradually detach and be carried away into the water. As a result, phenomena such as corrosion and dissolution cavities are formed. The insights gained from this study are significant for understanding the instability mechanisms of high and steep dangerous submerged rocks.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54941,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences","volume":"199 ","pages":"Article 106421"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2026-01-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145980630","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}